Benedict Cumberbatch

Benedict Cumberbatch (full name Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch) is the actor who portrays Sherlock Holmes in the BBC adaptation, Sherlock.

Cumberbatch is known for his film, television, theatre, and voice acting roles; his most acclaimed roles include: Stephen Hawking in the BBC drama Hawking (2004);[1] William Pitt in the historical film Amazing Grace (2006);[2] the protagonist Stephen Ezard in the miniseries thriller The Last Enemy (2008);[3] Paul Marshall in Atonement (2007);[4] Bernard in Small Island (2009);[5] and Major Jamie Stewart in War Horse (2012).[6]

He has lent his voice to both Smaug the Dragon and the Necromancer[7] opposite Martin Freeman (who plays the lead role of Bilbo Baggins) in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.[8] He also did the motion capture. He also portrayed the main antagonist, Khan Noonien Singh, in J. J. Abrams' Star Trek into Darkness,[9] which was released on May 16, 2013.[10]

Cumberbatch has expressed misgivings about the quality of fellow modern Sherlock Holmes adaption, Elementary, and wished that Jonny Lee Miller, whom he's worked with in the past, had passed on the role.[11] He's pointed out however, though, that he's never asked Miller to not take the role, and that he remains supportive of Miller's career.[12]

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In the summer of 2011, Danny Boyle created a National Theatre production of 'Frankenstein' in which Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller played the creator and monster and alternately changed nightly. Both actors then went on to play another Victorian creation Sherlock Holmes, both set in the present day, albeit opposite side of the Atlantic.

He portrayed the Angel Islington in the BBC's radio play adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novel Neverwhere, which co-starred Natalie Dormer and Sir Christopher Lee.